It pours a nice color, very light, clear, and pale pils with a sudsy bright white head that leaves all the lacing int he world.

The smell is pretty interesting. It has some herbal, grassy notes but also some zesty fruit aromas like lemons, oranges, peaches, melon.

The flavor is nice too. It has a grassy/herbal bite to it that leads into some tasty malts that perhaps have a bit of butteriness but not an overwhelming amount, the fruitiness can be tastes as well and a little bit of sweetness, the finish is a bit bitter with some herbal notes but also a faint bit of fruitiness.

This is a hyped-up beer and is the first pils i have taken the time to sit down with here in Germany to examine closely but it is a winner.

Had this now on two occasions, bottles brought back from Germany from my friend. Pours a very pale and slightly hazy straw yellow, almost clear, nice thick white head with nice lacing and good retention. Smell is great, some nice honey malt, caramel, orange peel, and a citrus/floral hop aroma. Taste is honey, vanilla, citrus/floral hops, perfect combination. Mouthfeel is light bodied, with medium carbonation. One of the most refreshing beers I've ever had and a near perfect example of a pilsner. Its colour is deceiving, this beer packs quite the aroma/flavour. Excellent beer, thanks Robert!

this is a state run brewery in german and a must try for any beer fan.

this one has a back story as my grandmother was sent out to turkey in the 70's to orchestra the building of a few powerplants. all his friends were muslim while out there. and they all loved to hunt pig but didn't eat it. my grandfather would tell me stories about how his friends would give him the hunted wild pig and he would take it to the butcher. and for 5 dollars have 50kg of wild boar. his friends and him, pork eating or not, would go out into the woods with a crate of this beer and eat wild boar and the sorts over a fire. found out all this because i bought him a bottle of the stuff for his birthday.

pour is golden crystal clear with a white head of 3 fingers. nose of munich and very very mild smoke. a nice field of straw and hints of smoke and apples. the palate is brisk but complex of nice mild sweetness and earth and a tight quick pine and drop out of a great pils.

The first Bier I drank upon moving to Deutschland. This Bier is the favorite of my girlfriends parents, who live near the Schwarzwald. This was very fortunate for me since I lived off the stuff for three months. Does anyone know what the name means? (or care?) I do and heres the answer. First of all the Badische Staatsbrauerei Rothaus AG brews 3 different Biers. A Pils, Hefe Weizen(Weißbier), und ein Märzen Export. Their is often a bit of confusion (even in Germany) on the bottle sizes versus the names. The standard bottle in Germany is a .5 liter bottle and accounts for about 77% of the sales in Germany. The .33 Liter (12 ounce little Ami-size) accounts for about 20% of sales in Germany. These were the numbers in 2005. So if you buy any of the three Biers mentioned above in .5 liter bottle they will have that name, as written above, on the label. If you buy them in the .33 they will have the name Zäpfle added. That means in a .33 you would see them as: Tannenzäpfle(Pils), Hefe Weizen Zäpfle, and Eis Zäpfle(Märzen). You can see why this would create confusion. The case with the Pils is even more confusing because the .5 liter is called Rothaus Pils and the .33 is called Tannenzäpfle. So back to the question what is a Tannezäpfle anyways? Its actually dialect and even people in those trendy bars up in Berlin would have trouble telling you. A Tannenzapfen is a pine cone. This is standard German. However for the people of who speak Badisch or Schwäbisch the suffix le is often added to words to describe it as small and sometimes in somewhat of a cute way. So a Tannezäpfle would therefore be a Small/Little pinecone(check out the label again). Now does the small bottle thing make sense? I hope anyways. Long story short, it is common mistake to think they are two different Biers but they arent. Speaking of Bier I almost forgot why I am here .On to the Bier!!!

This test was done blind with three other Pils so I tried to keep it as unbiased as possible. The little bottle pours a nice medium size bubbled head. It clings nicely to the glass and leaves beautiful lace down to the bottom of the glass. The color is about perfect with what I can only describe a deep straw with no hints of gold or copper. The clarity is like looking through a glass of water. The aroma is typisch Pils and better than most. It starts with a very big crisp and clean hop bouquet. It is very perfume-like featuring very complex fragrances of spicy flowers. Absolutely beautiful!!! I assume their using Tettnanger due their location and then aroma would back this theory up (Tettnanger come from the Lake Constance area). The malt aroma behind these hops is very delicate and exhibits soft Pilsner malt tones which include hints of grain and dry hay. The yeast provides a mild sulfur aroma that brings everything together. In tasting this Pils it begins with a very pleasant up front bitterness. Sweetness in the Bier can only be detected upon swallowing but I quickly fades to a nice lingering bitterness. True to a southern German Pils this Bier is not overly dry and features a very nice balance of Flowery and spicy hop tones coupled with a subtle maltiness. In the end I would have to say that this is one of the best Pils I have ever tried. There is a good reason why this Bier is so popular and doing very well all over Germany. Yeah they have good marketing and some might even say Gimmicks .
"Gimmicks, gimmicks, gimmicks, the whole world is nothing but a big gimmick with napalm bombs and machine guns...(pause)...gimmicks man...yeah we got some."
- Jimi Hendrix
Zum Wohl!!!

Very pale golden color, incredibly fresh taste, the body\mouth feel is not as crisp as better American pilsners, it's richer, I want to say it's silky. The flavors are very fresh; white bread, a touch of apple, the spicy noble hops are in perfect balance. Too drinkable.

The best German pils and the freshest German pilsner I've ever tasted, thanks to wvsabbath for muling this one back from his recent tour of Germany. Pours into my pilsner nonic 20 ounce pint with ample bright egg shell white frothy head. Bright yellow golden hue almost like a slight haze going on fine speckled lacing left behind with each sip. Aroma pungent herbal grassy hops, lemon citrus zest, earthiness pure Noble hops just kicking the senses, delicate pilsner malt profile bready biscuit like notes, smells wonderful. Drinking in perfect cohesion a blast of fresh hops dry finish bready pilsner malt profile this is sustainable I could live on a pils this perfect for everyday drinking, so well made not as hoppy (bitter) as some American versions but perfect complex malts and hops marry perfectly in this brew. Mouthfeel is crisp natural feeling carbonation, bone dry finish great light to medium bodied not watery or thin, just perfect. Overall, a beer that you can't get in the US, and if you could the freshness would be the downfall...which is why I believe why the Rothaus folks feel that they don't even have to. Just keep your locals taken care of and let the travelers experience this wonderful pilsner while making a trek thru the Rhineland or get a buddy to bring back a bottle or two!

Pixieskid generously sent a couple of these my way. 33cl bottle into a stemmed pilsner glass.

Incredibly clear and pale, the beer is a pale straw hue capped by a rich two finger head that retains remarkably well. This is a great loking pils.

There's a raw noble hop character to the nose, grassy and somewhat herbal. Grainy pilsner malt becomes more present as the beer warms, along with a very mineral/hard water scent.

The palate has a huge hop bite, grassy and earthy, herbal and resiny. The bitterness is just barely balanced by a dry crackery pils malt backbone. There's a strong mineral quality, too.

Drinkability is great, though I can see the bitterness wearing down the palate after a while. Fortunately it doesn't linger too long, making it an easy beer to quaff. Delicious stuff, absolutely loaded with flavor for the modest 5% ABV.

330ml bottle from evantwomey, straight from Germany - thanks, Evan! Best by date of 17.02.11.

Pours a bright, clear golden amber with a two-finger white head. Great head retention and lacing. Clean, crisp grain and floral, grassy hops on the aroma. Like the aroma, very crisp grainy malt and a nice lightly bitter, floral and grassy hop component. Medium-bodied with moderate carbonation and a fairly dry finish. This stuff is incredibly drinkable - it's killing me to only have 1 bottle. Really amazing stuff overall, one of the best German pils I've had.

Revisiting this beautiful lager two years since my last enounter; BB 22/06/09, served chilled in a straight pint glass.

A: a light straw colour comes rather "quiet" in terms of carbonation and an almost 100% clarity, topped with a 1cm thick white froth that only slowly retreats to a fine-textured blanket to last throughout the drink.S: much milder than my previous encounter, the aroma shows less assertive maltiness and more floral/lime-zesty aroma of German hops with a touch of "plastic" common to German Pilsener (maybe the hops...), backed by a healthy dose of doughy sourness of a well-lagered bier. Refreshing, clean, very decent.T: like my last encounter, a quiet foretaste of bitter-sweet straw-ish lager malts gets mixed inextricably with a decent amount of bitter hops and non-stop supply of delicate sourness (yeah, a bit doughy but not exactly that, with a bit of juicy citrus too). Quietly, the moderate level of bitterness wrapps the palate in the middle in the smoothest manner, not harsh at all, gradually taking over everything with a mildly chewy palate lingering with more aromatic touches of clean malts and floral hoppiness.M&D: extremely clean on the texture and this is greatly helped by a superb level of super fine carbonation (maybe the best amongst all bottled lagers I've had), while the flavour profile is integrated, quietly evolving even, against a moderate body for a Premium Lager. Overall, even better than my last encounter but this bottle shows a slightly different balance that weighs up the hops and tunes down the malts. Still, a perfect lager to quaff!

* Tasting Date: 04/01/07A kind gift from my flatmate's daddy, who brought this beer all the way from hometown Stuttgart~~ This is one his firm favourites. I wonder if this entry should be the same as Rothaus Pils, as on the label it bears both "Rothaus PILS" and "Tannen Zapfle"? BB 14/06/07, served chilled in a pilsner glass.3.5 A: light yellowish like the colour of infant ducks, coming with a fluffy white head that settles fast to a thin layer of foam, on top of lively carbonation composed of large bubbles...4 S: clean maltiness with plenty of doughy yeasts and lemons, with a full body of semi-sweet, sugary maltiness at the back. A good swirl would bring out the deeper layer of aromatic hops. Overall, focused and refreshing, rather like a malty Munchen Helles.4.5 T: wow... isn't this a delicious Pilsener!! The incredibly vertical flavour of bitter-sweet, biscuity and straw-ish malts comes seamlessly with a wave of dry hops and aromatic bitterness that quickly engulfs the whole palate... The lightly lemony aroma as well as delicate but abundant biscuity maltiness linger also well at the back of the palate, building an ideal structure with the 3D bitterness...4.5 M&5 D: clean, crisp, refreshing on the mouthfeel, with a touch of fizz too much, alas. Overall, this is a medium-bodied pilsener with a LOT of hop aroma, complex bitterness, a lingering malty flavour, and lengthy dry-ish mouthfeel to offer. This is by far the most delicious as well as balanced German Pilsner I've tasted. How I wish I could visit this highest brewery in Germany and taste this supreme beer on draught... Zum Wohl!, to the kindness of my flatmate's Vater!!

Sighting this in a central Moscow kiosk, I was immediately brought back to my days wandering the Black Forest in search of good beers to bring back to the beer wasteland that is Switzerland. This was always one of my favorites. Purity law applies, of course. Best before 9/7/05, I eagerly opened it on 8/5/05.

Clear pale yellow gold liquid sits below a thin half finger of white foam that fades to film and collar too quickly. No contour and no lace in this head. The nose is strong of bread and grain, slightly sweet, with a touch of pin sap hinting of things to come. The mouth very well carbonated but fairly viscous, almost to the point of being sticky on the tongue. This beer hugs the mouth tight, and won't let go. The taste is a marvel. The opening is pure malt, sweet and chewy like the inside of some French bread. The finish of the first swallow maintains the maltiness, without a hint of hops. Then, long after the liquid has gone, the spicey pine bitterness of the hops starts to build. And build. And build. Finally, the hops erupt in their full bitter glory, surrounding the mouth with crisp dryness, like eating a pine cone. Further sips bring back the malt, but the hops are well established now, and do not relinquish their hold. Delicious flavors blend in an orgy of sensation, leaving the ultimate aftertaste of dry, bitter satisfaction. This is no IPA - it's not that hoppy - but this is a crisp German pilsner the way they are supposed to be (just to bad about the lack of head). Why yes, I will have another, thank you!

T - Most prominent is the bready malt base. A lot of doughy/fresh baked bread taste that provides just a very subtle sweetness. Then mixed in with that base is a loud whisper of floral and herbal hoppiness. Also just a hint of lemon and pepper. These never really jump out a kick you in the mouth; rather, they fade in and out of the bread flavors. The finish leaves a slight bitterness along with the bread taste. The flavor isn't a bold outstanding one, but rather a very enjoyable one that lingers on the tongue.

M - Light and crisp with a slightly dry finish. Good amount of carbonation, and goes down really easy.

D - Amazingly drinkable. Light, crisp, and refreshing just like a Pilsener should be. The flavors linger on your tongue for quite a while and just tempt you to drink more.

Notes: This is an excellent Pilsener and I wish I could give one to people who say they don't like the style. I never thought that highly of the style (a view skewed by less appealing offerings of Pilseners), they seemed too light and wimpy. Is this beer light, yes. Wimpy, no. Very clean, natural, and refreshing beer.

Best before 21-06-05. Poors in with beatifull white head and wonderfull golden beercolor. Head stays very well but bubbles get bigger.
Nose is wonderfull too: good hopnose, quiet estery for a botom fermented beer and litle malty in background. Taste is great too being dry malty and going into a fresh aftertaste thats bitter but very clean. Mouthfeel is very good if you know to appriciate the bitterness. Loved this one when I was living in Bavaria beginning of the 90ies and still do so drinkability for me is as good as any brew can get.

Gorgeous deep soft sweet doughy nose in the bottle to start. Poured, it has a very pale ginger ale like sparkle to the eye. A number of swirly wirly beading tornadoes throughout supporting a big rocky pure white glossy head. Frothy lacing webbed around the glass as well.

Soft then firm dry clean taste with a slightly herbally long bitter finish. Structurally this lifts up everything effortlessly yet is so supple and lean at the same time.

The brewer's skill is just stunning. No special barrels, no bucket loads of exotic ingredients or hops and no double digit ABV. Just simple and easy to appreciate but with more susbtance than you'd find in all the craft beer pilsner wannabes stacked together. Love it. Everything a world class pilsner should be and more.

"Kult" beer, usually consumed directly from the bottle. The "pride of the black forest"! Same beer as the PILS in 50cl bottles. Very hoppy, high drinkability. you can't go home after just one bottle! Rarely to be found outside the southwest of Germany. It's so good, the locals don't export it but drink it themselves! Cheers